Brainjogging is one of Muscogee County, Georgia’s Supplemental Educational Services (SES) providers for the 2010-2011 school year. SES services are open to students that receive free or reduced lunch and whose schools did not make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) during the previous school year. All students at schools that have not made AYP during the previous two school years are eligible for SES.
SES was created to provide additional support to students that need it most. The overt reasons for SES do not include those discussed in an article from The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, which cites long-term crime, alcohol use disorders (AUDs) and risky sex behaviors as prevalent issues plaguing disadvantaged adolescents, but the prevention of development of negative behaviors and the curbing or cessation of current behaviors absolutely plays into the psychology of many students eligible for SES. These are students that are not performing on grade level; they are at high risk for developing risky behaviors.
The study cited in The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry “examined the influence of delinquency behaviors in late childhood development among over 800 youth from low- compared to middle-income backgrounds, age 10 to age 24” (Science Daily). Subjects were asked to complete “self-report assessments that included questions about delinquent involvement, alcohol use and sexual activity in late childhood; delinquency and alcohol use in adolescence; and crime, AUDs and risky sex in early adulthood.”
Children from low-income backgrounds were twice as likely to report early sex onset (by age 11) and more likely to report early delinquency (by age 10). Those from middle-income backgrounds were 1.5 times more likely to report early alcohol use (by age 10). Those that showed “early and frequent involvement with risky sex, delinquency and alcohol use beginning in late childhood and extending throughout adolescence showed an increase in long-term crime, AUDs and risky sex behaviors in young adulthood.”
SES is more than academic assistance; SES is a way out for some children. The students receiving SES with whom Brainjogging works are building their academic base and their self-confidence. They are learning about their intrinsic value and the power of self-motivation.